Mamelodi ex-con is now a motivational speaker

A 34-year-old ex-convict from Mamelodi East, who was arrested in 2004 after a failed attempt to rob a grocery store with his friends, has turned his life around and is now an anti-crime activist.

Mlungisi Zondi and his gang not only robbed the store but a man, believed to have been a security guard, was shot and killed during the foiled heist.

He was sentenced to life in prison when he was only 18, but his sentence was later reduced to 10 years in prison because it was his first offence and the murder was not committed by him but by a fellow gang member.

Zondi shared his journey with Rekord on how he went from being a gang member to a motivational speaker and an HIV/AIDS activist.

He said he started committing crimes when he was only a teenager in KwaZulu-Natal.

He resorted to crime because it made him quick money to feed his drug craving.

“I started doing drugs at a very young age. My mother was also a drug addict, so it made it easier for me to resort to drugs.

“She was a single mother and she was too invested in drugs. At times, it would feel as if she had no love for me at all,” he said.

Zondi said he then left home and affiliated himself with gangs and started doing crime regularly.

He said it began with small crimes on the streets of KZN to house burglaries.

As time went by, he and his friends decided to “step it up” by planning a heist.

“We planned a heist targeted at a local grocery store and we had the courage to put it into action.

“We raided the store. Our plan was to get money and leave but one of my friends, unfortunately, shot and killed a man.

“In no time, police were on the scene and managed to arrest all of us and we were sentenced to life in prison,” said Zondi.

Zondi described his first day in prison as a traumatic experience.

He said it was very hard because he was told to affiliate himself with another gang in prison or else he won’t survive.

As time went by, prison became more traumatic and soul-shattering for Zondi.

Zondi said he was gang-raped by more than five inmates and that led him to contract HIV.

He said getting raped shattered him and he wanted to commit suicide.

“I ripped off my bedsheets and used them to hang myself in a dark room because I couldn’t live with the fact that I was sexually violated.

“I hanged myself but I was shocked when I woke up in hospital,” he said.

“I was rescued by the prison warders. After I recovered, I tried to ill myself again.

“This time, I overdosed on pharmaceutical pills but it was yet another failed attempt,” said Zondi.

Zondi, however, began to see that he could use his story to motivate others in communities about the results of drugs and crime.

He completed his matric in prison and started attending counselling courses in prison from NGOs to help him understand how he can live a healthy life with HIV.

He added that he also started to attend church in prison because he felt that he needed guidance because of all the anger he had in his heart after being raped.

Today, Zondi is a motivational speaker who is currently receiving training at Kalafong hospital in Atteridgeville for HIV counselling. He was released in 2012.

“I have visited hundreds of schools and organisations to share my story and help the community refrain from crime and drugs.

“After I attempted to commit suicide, I decided to change and serve the community.

“I cannot afford to go back to prison. I will do everything I can to make sure I don’t go back to prison,” he said.

Zondi is committed to community work and helping young people out there see the bad side to crime and drugs.

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